“Usually careful not to criticize the United States, de Mel said last April that India’s proximity to his country made “other powers” unwilling to aid Sri Lanka,” the paper added

Meanwhile, commenting on late Minister of National Security Athuathmudali, the CIA noted that he “is one of Jayewardene’s closest military advisers and one of Sri Lanka’s most staunchly pro-military Cabinet officials, according to US Embassy officials. He almost certainly played a seminal role in planning Sri Lanka’s military offensive in May 1986 against the insurgents.”

“ Athulathmudali’s public statements indicate he would never support either an independent Tamil state or a single, semiautonomous Tamil province. He told US diplomats last December he believed the Army had superiority over the insurgents but added that “disaffected Tamils have to be reintegrated as Sri Lankans,” CIA noted.